Physically Inactive Undergraduate Students Exhibit More Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Poor Quality of Life than Physically Active Students.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends at least 150 min of moderate or vigorous activity (MVPA) per week for health benefits. However, meeting WHO guidelines for physical activity has been shown to be a great challenge for general populations and it may be even more difficult for undergraduate students due to elevated academic demand, thus negatively affecting general health status. Thus, this study investigated whether undergraduate students meeting WHO guidelines for physical activity show greater scores for symptoms of anxiety, depression, and poor quality of life than their counterparts not meeting guideline recommendations. Additionally, symptoms of anxiety, depression, and poor quality of life among academic areas were compared. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. The participants were recruited through messaging apps or institutional e-mail. The participants filled out an online consent form, questionnaires to assess demographic and academic characteristics, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, the Beck depression and anxiety inventory, and the short-form 36-item health survey questionnaire. The participants were classified as physically active (MVPA > 150 min/week) or inactive (MVPA < 150 min/week) according to WHO Guidelines. RESULTS: A total of 371 individuals were included in the analysis. Physically inactive students demonstrated higher scores of depression (17.96 vs. 14.62; 95% CI: -5.81 to -0.86; p = 0.0083) than physically active ones. SF-36 analyses revealed that physically inactive students had lower values in mental (45.68 vs. 52.77; 95% CI: 2.10 to 12.06; p = 0.0054) and physical (59.37 vs. 67.14; 95% CI: 3.24 to 12.30; p = 0.0015) domains compared with physically active ones. As for SF-36 subscales, physically inactive students showed lower scores in function capacity (70.45 vs. 79.70; 95% CI: 4.27 to 14.49; p = 0.0003), mental health (45.57 vs. 55.60; 95% CI: 5.28 to 14.76; p < 0.0001), social aspects (48.91 vs. 57.69; 95%CI: 3.47 to 14.08; p = 0.0012), vitality (42.19 vs. 50.61; 95% CI: 3.47 to 13.35; p = 0.0009), pain (61.85 vs. 68.00; 95% CI: 1.27 to 11.02; p = 0.0135), and general health status (53.82 vs. 63.81; 95% CI: 5.21 to 14.75; p < 0.0001) than their physically active peers. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that undergraduate students who do not meet WHO guidelines for physical activity display higher scores of anxiety, depression, and poor quality of life in comparison with their counterparts meeting physical activity guidelines. Collectively, these data suggest the need for academic institutions and policy makers to monitor and promote in-campus interventions to encourage physical activity.

Medical Students Show Lower Physical Activity Levels and Higher Anxiety Than Physical Education Students: A Cross-Sectional Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the time in physical activity (PA) [light (LPA), moderate and vigorous (MVPA)] and sedentary behavior (SB) (weekdays, weekends, or both) between Medical (MED) and Physical Education (PE) students who underwent remote classes imposed by the COVID-19. In addition, we compared symptoms of depression and anxiety and sleep quality. Methods: A cross-sectional study (272 MED and 95 PE students). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Beck Inventory (Anxiety, Depression), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality were used to assess PA and SB, anxiety and depression symptoms, and quality of sleep, respectively. The data are presented as median and interquartile intervals 25-75. Results: We observed statistically significant differences between MED and PE students for MVPA [MED: 165 min per week (0-360) vs. PE: 420 min per week (180-670), p < 0.001], SB Total [MED: 10 h per day (8-12) vs. PE: 7 h per day (5-10), p < 0.001)], and anxiety symptoms [MED: 13 points (5-23) vs. PE: six points (2-16), p < 0.001)]. Conclusion: Together, our findings indicate that MED students spent less time in MVPA and more time in SB than PE students. MED students also presented worse mental health in the pandemic situation imposed by the COVID-19.

Positive changes in femoral nerve morphometry in older rats following aerobic training.

The objective of the present study was to analyze alterations of the femoral nerve of aged rats subjected to aerobic training. Wistar rats (12-mo of age) were divided in to two groups: S group (sedentary) and T group (trained). The exercise protocol were 16 weeks long. The groups were sacrificed at 16 months. Ultrafine sections of the femoral nerve have been used. There was no change in the body weight between the groups. T group showed a significant increase in myelinated fiber area, axon diameter, myelin sheath thickness and myelin fiber number compared with sedentary controls. In exercised trained animals, histograms of the frequency distribution of myelinated axons according to their areas showed increased number of medium and large fibers in relation to small fibers, which decreased in number. Aerobic training animals, showed the distribution of myelinated fiber population according to their area being bimodal, with the distribution shifted to the right, indicating increased fiber area. The T group showed a percent damage of large myelinated fibers significantly lower compared to controls. No significant difference was observed between the groups for the g-ratio. The T group also showed a significant increase in the number of microtubules and neurofilaments in myelinated fibers, which was not observed in S group. In conclusion, aerobic training improves nerve structure without evidence of nerve damage and produces an attenuation on the modifications in femoral nerve that develop in old age.

Reference database of hematological parameters for growing and aging rats.

The normal hematological values in various phases of the rat life provide a valuable guide to researchers and could be useful for experimental works. However, database information available on the literature are incomplete. AIM: This study aimed to present normal hematological parameters of young and aged rats. METHODS: Male and female rats were distributed into seven experimental groups with 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age. Blood samples taken from the tails were analyzed. Normal hematological values were determined for each age group. RESULTS: Rats showed a progressive weight gain with advancing age, predominantly after 3 months of life. With advancing age, differences were found on hematological parameters: some of them showed a progressive rise with age and others did not. Hemoglobin levels and hematocrit did not change while the number of circulating red blood cells suffered slight increase. CONCLUSION: The present study determined the normal values for absolute and relative hematological parameters in Wistar rats from 2 to 24 months for male and female rats. The results can be used in studies of effects of aging, feeding, and medications on growing and aging rats.